​PRESS RELEASE
 
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
 
New Goldies Trustees
 
Two new Trustees have joined the management board of the Golden-Oldies Charity.
 
Cllr Rob Appleyard and Susanne Crick both attended a training seminar, which took place at the Centurion Hotel, Radstock, last Friday.
 
Funded by an Arts Council grant, the seminar was attended by over 30 session leaders from across England and Wales and is the first of six that will take place over the next two years.
 
After a successful career spanning Retail and Telecommunications B&NES Cllr Appleyard has developed to become a Non Executive Director for several local organisations, he sees the work of Golden-Oldies as playing a major roll in combating loneliness and isolation and looks forward to contributing to its further successes.
 
Susanne is a retired residential letting and property management professional.  She is a Goldies Volunteer with experience of caring for people with dementia.  She loves music and has for many years enjoyed singing in Choirs conducted by Grenville.
 
Our photograph shows Cllr Appleyard and Mrs Crick with Goldies founder Grenville Jones.
 
ENDS
 
Press enquiries to Grenville Jones on 07778 282934.

PRESS RELEASE
 
Monday October 12, 2015
 
Award Helps Golden-Oldies
 
The Golden-Oldies Charity, which brings about positive change through song, is this year’s winner of the Cosyfeet Community Award for Somerset.
 
Using memory-evoking hits of the 1950s onwards, Golden-Oldies organises daytime sing-along and activity sessions for older and vulnerable people living in social isolation. The £500 award from Cosyfeet will enable them to continue to run their much loved sessions in Street and Shepton Mallet for a further 8 month period, covering the cost of session leaders and venue hire.
The charity has run singing and activity sessions across Somerset since 2008. Through the support of the University of Bath, they have now introduced hugely popular ‘Active Songs.’  Participants follow the session leader with a series of dance movements developed through the Department for Health at the University.  These strengthen muscles in the legs, improve cardiovascular fitness and develop upper body flexibility. 


Keen to foster links with a range of community groups, Golden-Oldies is also involved in intergenerational history projects with local schools, which benefit young and old alike.
 
“Golden-Oldies refer to themselves as the ‘Sing and Smile’ charity,” says Managing Director Andrew Peirce. “They bring fun and friendship to the lives of people who are otherwise very isolated. It’s truly inspired!”
 
Cosyfeet specialises in footwear, socks and hosiery for people with swollen feet. Many of their customers are over 65, an age group often affected by loneliness.  With this in mind, Cosyfeet are delighted to support organisations that enrich the lives of the elderly through the Cosyfeet Community Award.
 
To find out more about the Cosyfeet Community Award see 
www.cosyfeet.com/communityaward
 
To find out more about the Golden-Oldies Charity and how you could get involved see http://www.golden-oldies.org.uk
 
ENDS

South Somerset BIG SING
 
On Friday October 2 Goldies from across Somerset joined forces with children from a Yeovil school for a Goldies BIG SING.
 
Goldies from Yeovil hosted the event at their Milford Hall venue welcoming Goldies from Street, Chard and Ilminster to the party.  Around 70 older people attended the afternoon with 4 Session Leaders to lead the fun.  20 children from Holy Trinity School also joined the BIG SING.  Earlier in the year, Goldies were invited to the school to take part in their commemorative WW1 event and the Goldies couldn’t wait to invite the children back.
 
The children presented work to the Goldies explaining subjects they we concentrating on and showing pictures of work from the school.  A lovely array of tea and cakes were provided by the Yeovil Goldies and everyone tucked into something sweet before raucous renditions of our favourite Goldie songs.  Everyone joined in with the actions to The Music Man and plenty of swaying took place with ABBA’s Dancing Queen.
 
The children had lots of fun, parents arrived towards the end and joined in the singing and the Goldies are eager for an invite back to the school.
 
We are thankful to Pauline Burr of South Somerset District Council and the Somerset Community Foundation for their continued support with our Somerset sessions.
 

PRESS RELEASE
 
Monday September 28, 2015
 
If you enjoy a good old fashion sing-along then St Paul’s Church, Hay Lane, Braintree, is the place to be on Saturday October 17.
 
From 2pm until 5pm a free admission event will celebrate the success of the Goldies Charity as it develops across Essex.
 
Special guests will be the Braintree Male Voice Choir but there will be plenty of opportunities for everyone to sing and smile.
 
The Goldies Charity was started in the West of England by Bath based music man Grenville Jones nine years ago. Since that time it has developed across England and Wales and the daytime singing and activity sessions based on the hits of the 60s onwards are enjoyed by thousands of older people.
 
In Braintree Goldies works in partnership with Greenfields Community Housing and many of the sessions take place within their sheltered housing schemes.
 
Former Anglican Minister Rob Cadman is the enthusiastic leader of Goldies in Essex, he said;
 
“We hope that many people will come and join us at St Paul’s on October 17. There will be refreshments, entertainment and lots of fun for everyone. We are delighted that Braintree Male Voice Choir will join us and the fantastic Braintree Lions have supported our community transport costs for the day.”
 
For more details contact Rob on 07860 945232.
 
ENDS


Caption : Songs and smiles with Goldies across Essex.
 
Press enquiries to Grenville Jones on 07778 282934 or Rob Cadman on 07860 945232.
​

​PRESS RELEASE
 
Image - Sing and smile with the Goldies
Thursday October 1, 2015
 
Sing and Smile charity launches in Silsden
 
A charity that has singing and smiling at its heart is launching fun daytime sessions for older people in Silsden on Thursday October 29.
 
Golden-Oldies was started by West Country music man Grenville Jones eight years ago. Grenville is well known with his work with choirs and in particular the famous Bath Male Choir who reached the finals of the BBC’s Last Choir Standing competition.
 
Grenville launched ‘Goldies’, as it is more fondly known, with four fun daytime singing and activity sessions in and around the Bath area taking the initial sessions himself.
 
The sessions soon developed across Somerset and Bristol and in 2009 Sir Cliff Richard agreed to become its Patron. For Grenville Jones it really is a case of ‘coming home’. His parents both originated from the Bradford area and Grenville remembers the times when he used to visit as a young boy.
 
The growth of Goldies has been quite remarkable since that time and by the end of 2015 there will be 38 dedicated session leaders taking 140  groups across England and Wales. Most recently Goldies was launched in Essex and Staffordshire and under the Goldies CYMRU banner, supported by a Wales Lottery Grant, there has been a rapid increase in sessions.
 
The Rev’d Ruth Crompton is Minister at Silsden Methodist Church. Through her friendship with Anne Griffiths who leads Goldies in Staffordshire, she discovered how the charity was reaching out to make such a huge difference to the lives of older lonely people.
 
Ruth said;
 
“We all know that there are so many older people who lead lonely lives. There are few opportunities to get out and meet other people and singing of course is such good therapy.
 
“The growth of Goldies really is truly remarkable and on Thursday October 29 we are delighted that Grenville Jones will be coming to Silsden to tell us more about his work with the charity and to lead our first session.
 
“There is great enthusiasm for Goldies from people in our church and the Creative Supports Community Links Team. I firmly believe that this will be the platform that will lead to the growth of the Goldies Charity across Yorkshire.”
 
The first session takes place at Silsden Methodist Church from 2pm until 3pm on Thursday October 29, everyone is welcome to attend to find just what Goldies is all about. Everyone is welcome to attend.
 
ENDS
 
Press enquiries to Grenville Jones on 07778 282934.